Flames of the Hood
by Luckycatcafe6
Summary: A mysterious fire starts, and burns down the Lucky Cat Cafe and the Hamada household, killing Aunt Cass and leaving Hiro and Tadashi homeless. Not wanting to be sent to a boys' home, they choose the alleyway. But lurking gangsters will take any chance they can to kill Hiro and Tadashi. It's life on the run for the Hamada brothers. Until one gang decides to take them in...GangsterAU
1. The Fire

**Hey Everyone! So this is an OC story, and I know a lot of you dont like those, but give it a chance! There is no canon shipping. Ok, so my OC from my story ****_Criminal, _****Damaris, will be in this story, but with a totally different plot line! This is so that people who havent read my first story still understand this one. Enjoy!**

Sometimes, when you play with fire, you get burnt.

Hiro Hamada found that out the hard way. It was 4:00 in the morning, and he was still in bed. Usually he got up around 7:30, but today he was woken by a sudden smoldering sensation on his face. It was as if a thousand needles were being stuck into him. He gasped in pain and quickly sat up. He felt around, eyes still closed, to find the source of the excruciating pain. He was damp with sweat and his entire bed was a burning temperature. He slightly squinted his eyes open, not yet completely awake, to see why. He saw nothing but a bright, orange light on every side of him. It was dawning on him the situation that he was in. He snapped fully awake to see flames licking away at his room, destroying everything they came in contact with, and turning the room into a toxic inferno. He looked down at his bed. His awry blankets were in flames too, yet he hadn't noticed that they were burning holes into his flesh. Screaming in agony, he tumbled out of bed and onto the floor. The floor wasn't much better, he might as well have been laying on the sun. He quickly tried to rise to his feet, ignoring the heat and suffocating air of the fire. Heat waves crashed through his body, his eyes were streaming from the smoke, but he determinedly tried to get to the shoji screen that separated his and Tadashi's rooms. If Tadashi wasn't already awake, Hiro had to wake him and get them both out. Stumbling in the general direction of the screen, he blindly felt around for walls to help guide him. The wall slightly caved in when he leaned against it, unstable now due to the fire. He arrived to see a wooden frame with paper curling from the flames. This had once been the screen. Hiro subliminally brushed past it to get to Tadashi's bed. He was uncontrollably hacking from the fumes and his face was covered in ash. His mouth felt like a sandpit. Wheezing, he fell to his knees feeling as if he could go no further. His head started swirling and bright lights flashed everywhere when he blinked. He crumpled to the ground, in flames, letting his fuzzy vision give way to darkness.

Tadashi had been awoken in the same way. Sparks flew from the walls and landed on his face. Howling in shock, his eyes popped open. He sat bolt upright and looked around him. It felt surreal. Was his room really burning down? Being the protective brother he is, the first thought that came to his mind was Hiro. He leapt out of bed and made an attempt to dash straight for Hiro's side of the room, without a single thought of his own wellbeing. He didn't get very far, tripping over a red hot metal rod that he had brought home for his school project. It burnt a hole right through his foot. Instinctively, he let out an agonizing screech and brought his foot up to his hands so he could nurse the gaping wound. Tadashi could feel the bones poking through his skin, and blood pouring from his foot like an unstoppable river. While he tried to close the injury up, the sickening stench of burning flesh hit him in the nose. It couldn't have been him, he checked himself and other than his foot he was unhurt. Then realization almost knocked him over. Hiro! Tadashi shot up, foot forgotten, to find Hiro. He stumbled over to the once shoji screen to notice Hiro, crumpled on the floor, in flames, and emitting the odor of burning flesh. Dried blood encased Hiro's body, giving him the appearance of a crimson mummy. Tadashi whimpered in horror and grasped Hiro's body in his arms. Now that he had Hiro, there was still time to escape! He was wrong. The flames were gradually trailing over to the AC- Heater box, a highly explosive device. Tadashi gasped and helplessly stared as the sparks shot towards the box. Within seconds, one little spark flew into the top of the box, adding heat to oxygen.

BOOM!

The entire house and cafe exploded. The intensity of it flung Tadashi and Hiro right out the window and onto the pavement of the sidewalk. Blinding flames burst out of every opening in the house. The noise it made was deafening. All Tadashi could hear when he flew through the air was a droning beeping noise that sounded as if it were coming from inside his head. He saw the ground coming closer, and tried to land on his feet while still holding Hiro. He did land on both feet, but not gracefully. The second Tadashi hit the ground, his right leg crumpled under him, broken. Totally off balance from the numbing pain, the rest of him toppled forward. His head slammed against the edge of the sidewalk and started throbbing. His vision soon clouded over too, and he lay there on the street, unconscious, along with Hiro's mangled figure, facing the ashes of what used to be their home.

**Sorry for it being so short! This is just the prologue, so be patient with me. Thx!**


	2. The Flames

**Ok guys, so I am going to warn you that this chapter has excessive violence, so I advise people under 11 not to read. **

This was just the beginning of the Hamada's troubles.

It was 11:00 in the morning when Hiro woke up. He groaned and sat up, clutching his head. His whole body felt sore, hot and stiff. He looked at his bedraggled form to see himself covered in scars and punctures and caked in his own dried blood. He grimaced, disgusted and astonished at his blood loss. He racked his memory, trying to remember what had caused him such injury. What had happened? Was Tadashi alright? Hiro gasped in dread when his gaze met the pile of ashes and rubble that had once been his house. The fire! He remembered now. As he stared, dumbstruck, at the pile, another thought suddenly came to him. No. Had he really forgotten? Aunt Cass! He dragged himself over to the still glowing ashes to see if Aunt Cass could have possibly survived. He scanned the rubble to see if he could detect even a slight movement. He saw nothing. Reality was starting to hit him, and it hit him hard. Hiro's eyes widened and he started panting in hallucination. Grief crashed over him. Aunt Cass had been like a mom to him!

Dejectedly, he started to turn back to the sidewalk, and he noticed something. It turned out to be someone. Tadashi! Hiro summoned up every last ounce of his energy to crawl his way to Tadashi's senseless body. Tears streamed from Hiro's eyes when he reached Tadashi. Tadashi was in a horrible state, battered and disfigured from the fire. Hiro noticed that his right leg was twisted in an awkward angle, and that his foot had a giant, gaping hole through it. Hiro sighed in remorse and bitterly gathered Tadashi's body from the pavement. His own burns were killing him, but he was determined to heal Tadashi first. He dragged Tadashi's body a little while down the street, which was bustling with traffic. Soon, a little side alley came into view, so Hiro walked over to it. It seemed like a valid place to rest and recover for the duration of the time that Tadashi was still blacked out. Hiro propped Tadashi up against some empty cardboard boxes, and slumped down next to him. Comprehending their situation, he became aware that they were now homeless, with not a thing to their name and nowhere to go. He sat with his head in his hands, pondering how they would survive. _How'll we live? We can't get sent to a boys' home! They'll separate us!_ His thoughts were interrupted by a feeble cough from Tadashi. Hiro turned in surprise to face him. He felt estatic that his brother was alive, but concerned for his health at the same time. Ration returning, he quickly hopped off of the box and went to find some fresh water so he could cool Tadashi off and give him something to drink. He ventured out into the road to see if there were any faucets accessible. All that was available were some rain puddles in the potholes of the street. Hiro didn't have time to be picky, so he dashed into the street and swiftly dipped a section of his shirt into the murky water to soak it up. This water wasn't drinkable, but it would do good to cool Tadashi off. His shirt absorbed it, turning it a darker shade of blue. When he felt there was enough water, he sprinted back for the sidewalk before any cars came. He tracked his way back to the alley and headed for the cardboard boxes. Hiro went over to where Tadashi was slouched against them and kneeled down in front of him. Positioning Tadashi so that he could reach him, Hiro brought the wetted corner of his shirt up to Tadashi's forehead. Tadashi gradually started opening his eyes, blinking several times to adjust to the sunlight.

He let out a choked sigh. "Hey Hiro. Wh...what happened?" Tadashi's voice was raspy and coarse.

"The fire, remember? You're really banged up! How did you get out? How did I get out?" Hiro inquired, puzzled.

Tadashi gasped as he recalled the fire and the explosion. "Oh no! Our house is gone! The explosion!" Everything was slowly coming back to him. He urgently tried to rise, but crumpled back down in agony, pain scrunching his features. Hiro cried out in anguish and scrambled closer to Tadashi.

He reassuringly put his hand on Tadashi's shoulder. "Tadashi, Please. Tell me. What. Happened." Hiro paused between words to emphasize his point. He stared expectantly into Tadashi's eyes.

Tadashi obliged, "You must have fallen unconscious when you caught fire. I found you, and tried to get us both out before it was too late, but I failed. The AC box exploded and I guess we both got blown out of the house. Thank god you're still alive, Hiro!" Tadashi breathed a sigh of relief, and it shone in his eyes.

Hiro gazed, stupefied, at Tadashi. So that's what had happened. It occurred to him that he would be dead if it weren't for Tadashi. His brother always seemed to get him out of his plights. It must appear to Tadashi that Hiro always takes his help for granted.

Guilt flushed through his face and he shamefully muttered, "Thanks Tadashi. I really appreciate it." Tadashi almost seemed to beam for a split second, but it left so quick that Hiro wondered if it was just his imagination.

He shook his head and rose to his feet. "Come on, Tadashi. It's getting dark out, we'd better find a place to stay." The moment the words left his lips, he realized that Tadashi was going to need a crutch to get anywhere due to his broken leg. Hiro glimpsed around the alley to see if there was anything that could be used as a crutch. He gave a satisfactory smile when spied an old baseball bat lying against a brick wall. It would work fine as a crutch! He left Tadashi and went over to retrieve it. Up close, the bat looked more like an oversized toothpick, no surprise as to why it was by the dumpster. Hiro grabbed it, twirled it and threw it up in the air. Remembering his purpose, he caught it expertly and dashed back to Tadashi. Tadashi was still reclined against the boxes, patiently waiting for Hiro's return.

He grinned when Hiro came back holding the bat. "So that's my crutch, eh? It'll do." Hiro clutched Tadashi's hand and helped him up. Once Tadashi was standing, Hiro swiftly stuck the bat under his right arm and backed away.

Tadashi tested it out. "Hey, it actually works great! Well come on what are we waiting for?" Tadashi hobbled towards the street and Hiro quickly followed suite. The street was still alive with traffic so Hiro and Tadashi kept closely to the sidewalk. It was now officially nighttime, and city lights flared everywhere. Hiro had been warned multiple times by Aunt Cass that now was the time that gangsters and hoodlums liked to attack, but he had always brushed her warnings off. Now, in the sinister street lights, Hiro began to rethink his ignorance towards Aunt Cass' advice. He chose to think positive, and continued down the road with Tadashi. A little side street abruptly came into Hiro's view.

He nudged Tadashi. "Hey, Dashi? Does that look like a good enough place to rest for the night?" He waited for a sarcastic comment from Tadashi, but got none.

"Yeah, that looks fine. It's secluded from everything else, so we'll get some peace and quiet." Tadashi simply observed. Hiro nodded in agreement and sprinted down into the little street with Tadashi slowly following. The street lamps buzzed up above, giving an eerie glow to the road, but Hiro didn't seem at all unnerved by it. The brothers continued down the path in silence.

Suddenly, a harsh voice stopped them in their tracks. "Just what do you nitwits think you're doing on OUR territory?" The voice was feminine, but grated and stern. Hiro wildly looked around to find the source of the voice. Without warning, a tough looking group of thugs materialized out of the shadows. A tall, rough looking lady came out first, clutching a dirk, a scowl carved on her face. Next was a huge, burly man who seemed as if he drank blood and ate nails. Hiro had never seen someone bigger or more muscular in his entire life. This particular thug had a lethal looking scimitar in his hand. A bunch more random ruffians followed behind them, soon surrounding Hiro and Tadashi. Hiro quailed in fear.

The tough lady stepped forward. "No one trespasses on our turf and gets away with it." Menace laced her tone as she addressed them.

"Brute! Hold that one!" The woman gestured towards Hiro.

The burly thug, Brute, punched a fist into his other hand, showing that he meant business. "You got it, Yoko!" Hiro whimpered and tried to cry out as Brute grabbed Hiro and firmly held him, scimitar blade across his throat. Tadashi growled in rage and tried leaping for Brute, but Yoko snatched him back by his shirt collar.

"Oh no, dear. I don't plan on letting you off easily any time soon." Yoko's voice was scarily calm and she dragged Tadashi back in front of her. With lightning speed, Yoko lashed out and grabbed the bat from under Tadashi's arm. Tadashi attempted to stand on one leg, but collapsed onto the ground. Yoko's eyes were blazing as she lifted the bat above her head. She struck down at Tadashi with all the force of a mad bull. The bat slammed into Tadashi's head, cracking it open. Yoko repeatedly did this, smashing and bashing with the bat, until she was content that Tadashi was either dead or close to death. Hiro shrieked in horror at the savage sight and struggled with all his might to get out of Brute's grip. Brute just gripped Hiro tighter and put his hand over his mouth to stop him from shouting out. Muffled cries still came from Hiro. Blood was pooling out of Tadashi's head and Hiro was started to feel it seep onto his bare feet. He winced at the grim sensation of it. Tadashi limply flailed around holding his head, flinging blood everywhere. It spattered Hiro's face and body. Hiro couldn't take much more of this.

Suddenly, two long, sharp looking daggers came from behind Yoko, trapping her neck. The same thing happened with the rest of the thugs.

A blood-chilling voice came from behind Yoko, "Get your grubby hands off of them..." Yoko didn't seem at all afraid, but she took one look at how her thugs were now surrounded and was forced to admit defeat.

She growled defiantly, "You've won this time, flame! But you have not seen the last of us!" From the way Yoko called the mysterious figure by a name, Hiro assumed that they knew eachother. He was finding it hard to tell whether these strange assailants were trying to help Hiro and Tadashi or not.

The frosty voice broke his thoughts, "Boys, let them go, the slimy mud scum!" The supposed flame turned her attention back to Yoko, "Yoko, if I ever see you beat up another person so horribly again, I. Will. Kill you." The twin blades disappeared from Yoko's neck, and Yoko fled with the rest of her gang once they were released. An unsure Brute still held tight to Hiro, but dropped him and ran when the figures started threatening him with their glinting weapons. Hiro fell to his knees, gasping for breath. He soon recovered and sped over to Tadashi's body. Hiro did not know if it was possible for someone to be so beaten up and still be alive. He clenched his teeth in rage. How could someone do this to another living being?! The figures appeared from the shadows and formed into a group.

The flame came up and confronted Hiro. "My name's Damaris, I'm part of the Flames," she gestured at the rest of the figures. "Sorry you met Yoko and her ruffians before us. What a horrible thing to do, beat someone to death with a baseball bat! Oooh those-" Damaris went on to call Yoko and her gang every unprintable name under the sun. Hiro flinched at the dirty language. Damaris was soon out of breath from talking so long.

She quickly regained composure and addressed one of the Flames. "Jace, you take that ones body. We've gotta get out of here before Yoko comes back with more force!" Jace speedily gathered up Tadashi and fled down along the street with the two other Flames.

Damaris grabbed Hiro's arm. "Come on, let's go!" She raced down the path behind her gangmates, Hiro closely on her trail. Soon they were out of sight, and the side street was empty once again.

**So if you guys could just review, I would be very very happy! I love the bubbly feeling I get when someone reviews!**


	3. Part of a Gang

Hiro's mind was racing as he dashed through the winding alleyways with Damaris. He had no idea where they were going or what they were doing. The only reason he was following was because they had Tadashi. They ran for another mile or so and then turned into a little alley with a single street lamp and a lot of piling trash.

The three other Flames were already crouched on the concrete surrounding Tadashi's body when Hiro and Damaris arrived. Hiro was out of breath, but Damaris looked like she hadn't even run at all. Damaris slowly walked over to Tadashi to examine him. She kneeled in front of him and ran her fingers over his unmoving figure.

"Hmmm, he's still alive but barely. I'm quite impressed, not many people can go through something like that and live to tell the tale! He's going to need serious treatment though." She turned to Hiro. "Where are your parents, kiddo?"

Hiro wasn't quite prepared for that question. He hesitantly answered. "Me and Tadashi's parents died when I was three. Our house just burned down yesterday, and our aunt died in the fire..." Hiro looked down and twiddled his thumbs, waiting for a shocked reply, or a look of pity, from Damaris. But Damaris simply gave him an expressionless gaze. Everyone sat in silence for what felt like hours, until Damaris broke the still quiet.

"Well then I guess since you two are orphans, we can't send...er...Tadashi, to the hospital, now can we? They'll send you to a boys' home or an orphanage..." She gazed from Hiro to Tadashi then regretfully sighed. "I'm just gonna have to keep you then, aren't I? A playful grin crossed her face and she extended her hand at Hiro. "Welcome to the gang!" Hiro gave an unsure smile, but went to shake her hand anyways. Damaris rose to her feet and Hiro did too.

"Well now that you're one of us, you'll probably want to know all of our names," Damaris walked over to a tall boy with hair kind of like Hiro's and bright grey-blue eyes. He looked to be around Tadashi's age. "This is Jace. He's our spy." Jace leaned against the wall and gave Hiro a casual salute.

Damaris then went over to an boy of average height who had a blonde buzz cut and a permanent scowl on his face. He was very buff, but nowhere near as large as Brute from Yoko's gang. Damaris' face lost its' happy glint and turned blank. "This is Tony. He's a jerk, and I honestly don't know why we let him stay..." She glared at Tony as he grunted and folded his arms in hatred. He seemed like a real ray of sunshine... Damaris humphed and moved on to the last member.

The last member was a tiny girl who looked as if she couldn't have been older than six. She had long, flowing brown hair that went down to her feet, and her eyes were dark green. She almost looked like a mini Damaris. Hiro was astonished that someone so young was here in this horrid place.

Damaris crouched down to get to the little girl's level, and Hiro did so too. "This is Kishi. She is only six years old, but we took her in because we found her abandoned when she was a toddler. She has an extraordinary talent though for six years though! She knows more with weapons than even I do!" Damaris explained.

Hiro stared aghast at the girl. So she was a little weaponry prodigy? Hiro didn't even want to think about how corrupt her mind must have gotten from being out with hoodlums her whole life. Kishi meekly glanced at Hiro and mumbled a 'hi'.

Hiro blinked in acknowledgement and turned to Damaris. "It's great to meet them all, but we still need to help Tadashi."

Damaris slapped her palm to her forehead. "Oh god I almost forgot!" She paused for a moment, "The one setback would be that we have no one who knows a thing about medicine or healing..." She gave Tadashi's motionless form a regretful glance.

Kishi suddenly stepped forward. "Actually 'Maris, I may seem violent but I bet I can heal that guy. I know a couple of remedies." Kishi looked up at Damaris with huge, hopeful eyes.

Damaris smiled and laid a hand on Kishi's shoulder. "If you can to do something for him, then be my guest." Kishi smiled and trotted over to Tadashi. She ripped his T-shirt off and tore it into strips. She wrapped the strips over various parts of his body to stop the blood, then took some water and dripped it on him, attempting to cool his temperature down. Hiro watched in silence as Kishi worked on Tadashi. He was grateful for the gangs compassion towards him and Tadashi even though they had just met.

Damaris broke his thoughts. "Well Hiro, I'm gonna tell you how we get on around here. It's a dangerous place for newcomers. You know any self defense?"

Hiro pondered for a moment then answered, "Tadashi taught me some karate, although I'm not sure that's going to be enough out here..."

Damaris nodded in agreement. "You're right. You'll need to know how to handle a weapon. Firearms or a blade?" Hiro wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure he wanted to learn how to use a weapon. But then the memory of what Yoko had done to Tadashi flooded back and Hiro almost screamed with rage. He would make sure Yoko paid for what she had done.

With a new determination, he turned back to Damaris. "I'll try a blade for starts." Damaris grinned and went over to a sewer drain. Hiro followed, watching as she wrenched it up. He stood dumbstruck as she dived headfirst down into it. He faintly heard some clattering ms scraping coming from the drain. Moments later she hopped back out of the drain holding a long, sharp Sgian Dubh. She handed it over to Hiro so the hilt was pointing at him and then gently laid the sewer drain lid back on. Hiro stood and stared at the knife in his hand. It looked so sharp and lethal.

"Test it out. We haven't really had time to sharpen most of the weapons." Damaris said. Hiro started to run the tip of the blade along his fingers to test it but recoiled in pain, whipping his bleeding hand up to his mouth. He sucked on the cut trying to numb the pain.

"It's perfectly sharp, I'm sure." Hiro replied tartly.

Damaris shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure." But by the look on her face, Hiro could tell that she had known it was sharp as hell in the first place. Bringing his hand down, he grasped the hilt of the Sgian Dubh.

"I'm going to kill Yoko if it's the last thing I do." Hiro subconsciously spoke his thoughts aloud.

Damaris smiled knowingly. "Don't get ahead of yourself. We understand how you feel. We've all felt it."

Jace suddenly stepped forward. "If anyone knows how it feels, it would be me." Hiro glanced up at him in curiosity. What had Yoko done to Jace?

"Yoko killed the last person alive that I cared about," Jace continued, " I had a sister once. She was my twin. We were both orphans living on the street, and both of us were 12. Unfortunately, Yoko came across us on her territory and killed my sister as a punishment. It was so horrible to watch. Once my sister was dead, she beat me 'til she believed I was dead. But I had always been stronger than my sister. I will never forgive her for what she did. And I'll never forget my sister." Jace hung his head in sorrow. Hiro felt terrible for him. At least Tadashi wasn't dead. They stood in a gloomy silence until Kishi walked up to them.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to tell you something," she turned to Hiro, "Your brother is waking up, but not in good condition. He has a concussion and many broken bones. He's gonna be a cripple cause he's paralyzed in one leg. I'm not sure he's gonna live for long if he doesn't get some real medical help soon."

Damaris cast her a worried glance. "That's that then. We've got to get him to a hospital," She addressed Jace, "You have some good disguises. We're gonna need them if we're gonna get anywhere." Jace gave a curt nod and raced over to a little door in the wall.

Damaris gave a small frown, "Hiro, I know you want to go with us to the hospital, but I'm going to leave in charge of the camp. I know I haven't taught you any knife skills yet but you should be fine." Damaris' expression suddenly turned dead serious, "One last thing, Hiro. There is a certain rouge girl that roams around here who will take complete advantage of you. She is a hypnotist and is highly dangerous. If she comes, don't make eye contact with her and most definitely do not follow her anywhere." Hiro was only getting a slight idea as to where this was going. Instead of questioning Damaris, he simply gave an obedient nod. Damaris trotted off to go change into her disguise and help the other three lift Tadashi's half dead body onto an old cot with wheels. Tony and Kishi pulled from the front as Jace and Damaris pushed the back.

"Don't forget what I told you!" Damaris called out to Hiro as they rolled out of sight. Hiro sighed and leaned against the brick wall, flipping the Sgian Dubh around in his hands. He attempted to entertain himself by seeing how many times he could hit a certain black brick with his blade on the other side of the alley. He discovered that he sucked at blade tricks. After a while it became dark. Dreariness started to flood over him and his eyelids began to feel heavy. For his own sake, he stayed alert anyways knowing the punishment if he let off his guard. He was still out of it, though.

Suddenly, Hiro heard a faint scraping noise, like nails on a chalkboard. It sent shivers down his spine. He was instantly alert, hopping up onto his feet, Sgian Dubh at the ready. The sound came again. He whipped his head around trying to detect the source. A startled yelp escaped his mouth when a lithe glowing figure appeared in front of him as if by magic. It's eye's were silver and they bore into his with a scary intensity. It had long, flowing silver hair too, which was glowing even in the darkness. Hiro started backing up until he ran into the wall. The figure silently glided towards him. It's eyes seemed to brighten even more, making Hiro dizzy. Realization hit him. This was the hypnotic girl Damaris had warned him of! Trying not to gape at her in fear, he scrunched his eyes shut and faced the brick wall. The girl kept coming towards him until they were touching. She grabbed his face in her hands and wrenched it so Hiro was making undeniable eye contact with her. The Sgian Dubh fell from his grip and clattered onto the pavement. As hard as he tried, he couldn't break his gaze.

The girl put his face up to hers. "Listen to me, my dear. You are going to come with me and you're going to like it. Or I'll simply have to force it." She purred at him. For the first time since their encounter, her face changed from a creepy stare to a sly grin. Hiro knew damn well what was going to happen to him if he went with her, but he couldn't seem to help it. She intensely gazed into his eyes until he couldn't resist it anymore. His head started spinning and he no longer recognized his emotions. He started to slip into the grim darkness of a comatose that would cost him his life. The girls cackling face was the last thing he saw.


	4. Tough as the Rest

Uhngh...

Hiro groaned in agony as his senses started to come back. He instinctively tried to nurse his head, which felt like it was splitting in half, but he found he couldn't move his hands. He felt too weary to want to figure out why. Blinking furiously, he tried to keep his focus long enough to see where he was. It smelled like alcohol and cheap perfume. It was too dark to get a clear idea of where he was though, with only a dim street light with a couple of bugs flying around it. Hiro looked down at himself to see if he'd been injured. He wasn't hurt-except for his throbbing head-but his hands were bound behind him by a metal fringed rope and his neck was in a vise attached to the wall. For the first time since he'd woken up, he noticed that the vise was choking him. Gasping for breath, he struggled against the rope and vise, attempting to free himself.

A sudden glinting object came whizzing through the air, burying itself in the wall inches from Hiro's face. He stifled a scream, instead yelping in shock. He stared in awe at the dagger protruding from the wall a hairbreadth from his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something was glowing. He tore his gaze away from the dagger and faced the light. It was the silver haired girl, eyes twirling hypnotically, slowly gliding over to Hiro. Hiro's eyes widened, and his feet scrabbled desperately on the concrete, trying to get away from her. There was a no possible way out of his binds. The girl floated over to Hiro until she was directly in front of him. Suddenly, she lost her goddess-like appearance and became and ordinary looking teen, but still with the glowing silver hair and eyes. She dropped to her knees and crawled over to Hiro. Hiro whimpered and backed up against the wall as much as he could. The girl spoke with the same sinister purr to her voice.

"Hello, dearie. I hope I haven't frightened you too much," she giggled, "I just thought you would be the perfect victim. You are indeed hot..." Her sinuous fingers trailed from his mouth down his chest and she gazed seductively at him.

Hiro shuddered in agony. "Stop, please! I'm too young! You can't!" It was obvious the last thing the girl was going to do was stop. She gave a small moan of pleasure and leaned even closer in to him. Hiro felt he was going to die of discomfort. Before he knew it, his jacket and shirt were being ripped off. He gasped in protest. He felt so vulnerable, so unprotected. His heart was pumping so hard, he was sure anyone within a mile radius could hear it. If something didn't happen in his favor soon, he knew it wouldn't be just his top half naked.

He tried pleading again. "Please stop! Please get off me! Let me go..." She just leaned closer, laying wet kisses on his neck. He recoiled. That had always been a sensitive area for him.

Hiro shivered. "Why are you doing this to me? Where do you gain anything from this?"

The girl stopped kissing him and put his face up to hers. "Where do I gain anything? My emotional pleasure and your emotional pain is enough satisfaction for me." Her breath smelt strongly of cigarettes and alcohol. Hiro involuntarily convulsed, sickened by this girl and what she was doing. She was about to go back to kissing him when a hissing noise flew through the air. The girl gagged and rolled off of him, hacking up blood. Hiro screamed in absolute shock. He felt even sicker than he had before. He stared at the girl who was flailing on the ground, clutching her throat. With a final gasp, her spasms halted and she lay limply on the blood soaked ground. Hiro panted in exhilaration. So much had just happened in the last five minutes, he was starting to wonder if it was a dream. No, he thought, this is real, and I have to find a way to overcome it. He was trembling, but it might have just been the cold. Hiro looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching to see Damaris, Jace, and Tony walking towards him. Well, more like sprinting. Hiro couldn't possibly have been more relieved. Damaris rushed over to him. From the black trails of mascara down her face, Hiro could see she had been crying.

She knelt down and gently grasped Hiro's shoulder. "Hiro..." she trembled. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. I knew better. She was so powerful, you didn't stand a chance." Hiro could see worry in her eyes beyond the film of glittering tears.

Damaris took a deep breath in and out to calm herself. "How far did she get?" she paused to glance over at Hiro's jacket and shirt in a crumpled pile a couple feet away, "It seems we came here just in time, didn't we?" Hiro gulped and looked down at himself. His chest was still bare. A sudden gust of wind blew through the alley. He sucked his stomach in and wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm. His burns were still stinging, and he cringed when the icy wind pricked his skin. Damaris narrowed her eyes in concern.

She hesitated a second before speaking. "We should get you back to the camp." Hiro murmured in agreement. After thinking for a moment, he furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Where's Tadashi?" He looked up expectantly at Damaris.

Damaris flashed him a quick glance. "He's still in the hospital recovering. His injuries are really severe. Kishi suggested that we come back to check on you and she would stay with him."

Hiro shook his head. Was she telling the whole story? Was Tadashi going to live?

He sighed, "How did you know where I was?"

Damaris avoided eye contact with him. "The minute we saw that you were gone and had left behind your Sgian Dubh, we knew what had happened. There wasn't a hint of blood to signify a fight, so that confirmed that she had taken you. We got here as quick as we could. It wasn't hard to follow a trail of silver lights. We saw what she was about to do, so I did what I first thought of, which was to kill her. And since she is-was-hypnotic, it required a special poison I happened to have on me."

Hiro rubbed his arms from the cold. "Well, thank you... I'm not sure being...ya know...seduced...is really on my list of things I want to happen." He shrugged and grinned at Damaris.

Damaris had already grown fond of Hiro. Seeing him abused was killing her. She stared at him and suddenly realized why others were taking advantage of him. They knew he was a newcomer and that he wasn't much of a threat. He looked so innocent and naïve. Damaris knew exactly how she was going to fix that.

"Hiro. Ya know, you're missing something. Something fixable. Let's go back to camp and I'll tell you what I have in mind." She rose without another word, Jace and Tony silently following her. They hadn't said a word the entire time. Befuddled, Hiro heaved himself to his feet and slowly followed behind.

The walk back was cold and dreary. Hiro hadn't bothered to get his shirt or jacket, so he felt exceptionally frostbit. The path they were taking was cleverly hidden, probably because the now-dead girl had had to hide her abuse camp. It was horribly sinister and unnerving, but Damaris looked as tough as ever. Hiro was pondering the many possibilities of what Damaris might have meant when she said there was something fixable about him. What could possibly be fixable? Perhaps she meant she had to buff him up, or toughen up his personality. He figured he'd find out soon enough. He'd been so lost in thought, he hadn't realized they were at the camp. He had been automatically walking the entire way.

Damaris whipped around to face Hiro. "Ok so here's how it'll work. Tony is going to take you to a friend of mine, and she'll make some changes for the better. Tony is a jackass, but follow his lead this time." Damaris gave Hiro a firm pat on the back and vanished with Jace into the shadows.

Tony grunted at Hiro, "Come on, little wimp, this'll do you some good. Perhaps it'll take your wimpy-ness away." He gave a dry chortle. Hiro couldn't see what was funny other than the obvious jibe, and decided to ignore it. Tony sauntered down a street that was new to Hiro, and Hiro hesitantly followed. This street had a lot of graffiti littering the walls and trash piled up in the alley corners. To Hiro, the graffiti looked like tattoos you would see on the stereotypical thug. Tony and Hiro continued along the street until a bright orange light came into view. Tony sped up a little bit, obviously eager to ditch Hiro on someone else. Hiro quickened his pace until he was directly in front of the orange glow. It looked like some sort of store, but really run down and ghetto style. He looked up to read the sign.

Vivian's Tattoos, Piercings, and Dyes

Oh god... Hiro knew he was screwed.

Tony chuckled darkly, "Well, kid, looks like you're in for a treat." But by the look on his face, Hiro knew it was going to be the opposite of a treat. With utmost reluctance, he stepped inside. A tall woman with curly pink hair who had at least fifty piercings and seemed to be one big tattoo swaggered over to Hiro. To Hiro, she looked like a punk Nikki Manaj, but he kept his opinion to himself.

She smirked. "You must be the new Flame. Damaris told me about you, but I never caught your name. I'm Vivian, nice to meetcha."

Hiro nervously took her extended hand and shook it. "Hiro. Hiro Hamada. Um, did Damaris tell you I was coming?"

Vivian replied, "No, actually. This is a surprise," She stopped Hiro from interrupting, "I knew who you were from the description Damaris gave me. You're smaller than I thought you would be, though." Before Hiro could speak, she trotted over to a huge, black chair. The chair had manacles where the ankles and the wrists went on it. Hiro was instantly suspicious.

Vivian must have noticed the concern on his face. "This isn't a torture chamber, but some people see it that way. They are just for the involuntary customers we sometimes get," her gaze suddenly turned darker and slyer, "and you may be one of them. Better safe than sorry." She whipped a spray bottle out of her pocket and shot it at Hiro before he could make a move. Whatever she had sprayed at him, it smelt like an overpowering mixture of cologne and weed killer. For what seemed like the umpteenth time, dizziness flooded him, and he toppled over onto the marble floor, senseless.


End file.
